Sue Dwiggins Worsley dies at 97

Was writer, production coordinator

Sue Dwiggins Worsley, a writer, production coordinator and production secretary, died at her home in Studio City, Calif., on Dec. 31. She was 97.

In the 1950s, she broke into the fledgling television market by writing scripts for “The Gene Autry Show.” Later she worked in the production offices of Gene Autry Prods. and, in the 1960s, for Four Star Television and 20th Century Fox.

While working on the Warner Bros. production of “Deliverance” in Georgia in 1971, she met and married her third husband, production manager Wallace Worsley Jr., and subsequently joined him in production offices for location shooting on films including “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “Whose Life Is It Anyway?,” “ET: The Extra-Terrestrial” and ” ‘night, Mother,” as well as on the Paramount miniseries for NBC “Shogun.” She was production coordinator on “ET.”

Long active in industry politics, Sue Dwiggins Worsley was one of the backers of union representation for production coordinators, who joined IATSE as Production Office Coordinators in 1978.

Worsley was born Miriam Gretchen Sues in Los Angeles. Her father Simmons Albert Sues was a cameraman on silent series “The Hazards of Helen,” among many other early “flickers.” Her mother Muriel Sues (nee McCoy) was a sound editor at MGM.

She was married in 1938 to Don Dwiggins, a newspaper and book writer, and in 1952 to William Bradford, a cameraman at Republic Pictures.

Both marriages ended in divorce.

She retired from the industry in 1991 upon the death of husband Wallace Worsley Jr. She is survived by a son and a daughter; seven grandchildren; and a number of great-grandchildren.

Donations may be made to the Lily La Cava Scholarship Fund, IATSE Local 871, 11519 Chandler Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601.